Burma

A Letter from Arakan State

By PYI SAUNT Thursday, September 2, 2010

In this 2009 photo, Burmese Rohingya boy waits for a fishing boat to come in so he can make small money carrying the fish to shore in Sittwe, Arakan state. (Photo: Getty Images)

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“We’re now forced to live a suffocating life.”

Rakhine still traumatized

Some Rakhine politicians that I talked to agreed that some Bengali just want to live peacefully, but say there are radical religious leaders who stir up other Rohingya.

Elderly Rakhine still remember the 1942 massacre, in which tens of thousands of Rakhine were slaughtered and their villages were burned by Muslim separatists.

Before 1942, there were about 200 Rakhine villages in Maungdaw Township. However, after the massacre, the number dropped to 50. Many families fled their village, leaving their land and property behind.

On the night of May 13, 1988, a small number of Rakhine found themselves surrounded by tens of thousands of Bengali Muslims, who threatened to eliminate all Rakhine from Maungdaw. With the help of government security guards, another possible massacre was averted.

Election fever

Though the military junta doesn’t recognize Bengali as citizens, they do allow them to be involved in politics.

The government has given Bengali the opportunity to vote in the 2010 elections. They were also allowed to vote in 1990 elections.

According to the electoral law, the government allows “foreign registration card” (FRC) holders, people who being considered for citizenship or people holding a temporary identification card, to vote in the upcoming elections if they are 18 years old or older. Bengali hold temporary identification cards.

"Is there any country in the world that allows such people to vote in an election?” asked a former Rakhine politician.

In order to win votes from the Bengalis, the former government-sponsored Union Solidarity and Development Party [USDP] gave away incentives. For example, in Buthidaung and Maungdaw, USDP officials held out the possibility of freedom of travel and the right to own land for Bengali migrants. In some areas, USDP officials reportedly said they would consider granting citizenship to the Bengali migrants if their party won in the election.

“We’ve long been waiting for these chances,” said one excited Bengali, though he was not sure if these promises would materialize.

Incentives breed concern

While Bengali are happy with incentives, Rakhines, especially in the Maungdaw area, are not happy.

A Rakhine at Maungdaw asked, "If the new government grants them [Bengali migrants] the right to own land, how can we claim our land?"

Rakhines also fear they could be driven out of their native homes, if Bengali migrants grow stronger in the future.

With all the uncertainty, many Rakhine are frustrated. Some families have fled the Maungdaw area, moving to Rangoon or other locations in Arakan State.

If the government doesn't address the complex issues between the Rakhine and the Rohingya, many other families are likely to flee, warn Rakhine politicians.

“We're now thinking about moving to any township where our Rakhine are a majority," said an elderly man in Maungdaw. Sighing, he said, "Here, our life is in danger.”

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COMMENTS (26)

Moe Gyaw Wrote:

07/09/2010

Hello Freeman
The article from rohingya.org is fatally flawed in terms of historical facts. Another thing is that article doesn't appear on any other websites other than rohingya.org and rohingya.info. Copy a piece of text and paste it in google. You will see it looks fishy in the eye of google.

Free Man Wrote:

06/09/2010

Thanks for posting this, MA.
http://www.rohingya.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=75&Itemid=33
What a mess! In general, the
Buddhists of Burma fear that Buddhism will fall into oblivion. Muslims think the rest of the human race who do not share their beliefs are infidels. Christians think their god is the only true supernatural being on this planet. etc. etc. So, they have converted, quarrelled, slaughtered, oppressed and discriminated against each other where they are in the majority throughout world history. However, some religions have relatively evolved/been reformed because of the onslaught of free thinkers and scientific progress. Unfortunately, Islam is not one of them and poses a threat to humanity. So, we should deal with it, and this should only be in a civilized manner.
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/505113-silence-is-not-moderation
Regarding the ethnic aspect of the issue, I just want to say that we must respect the principles of human rights.

Saw Tin Maung Wrote:

05/09/2010

I agree with U kyaw Tin. This is the true.
U Kyaw Maung, the Chairman of Rakhine State People's Council in 1980 was a Bengali Rakhine.
U BA Kyaw, former Immigration Head officer in Maungdaw, U Wai Tha Maung (father-in-law of USDP chairman Tun Hla Sein) business man, Boyar Mg Gyi(also known lip service Mg Gyi), etc...
Most of the Rakhinese in Maungdaw got Bangladeshi ID card and mobile phones. Nobody will deny it.

Ko Zaw Wrote:

05/09/2010

If anyone want to know/to be experienced how the Buddhists of Arakan attack Muslims,just go to Main road (Lann Ma Gyi) of Sittway with any Muslim identity, like wearing a Muslim cap after sunset without making any sounds/doing any unethical things.Only the bones will be left if you are lucky enough. This is my experience, I was in Sittway for 3 years for my studies.

Ko Zaw Zaw Wrote:

05/09/2010

Most of the scholars, especially racist Rakhine, say that Bengalis are migrating to Arakan. That is correct, but not Bengali Muslims, most of them are Buddhist because they get support from locals who are the same faith with them and can easily mix with them. Local Buddhists want to increase the manpower and they systematically support the migration of Buddhists from Bangla. You can find that most of the traders and businessmen in Sittway are Buddhists from Bangla.
Foreign Muslims do not migrate to Arakan because the rights of the muslim minority in Arakan are restricted and they are systematically persecuted by Buddhists and the SPDC government. Muslims are just going out of Arakan because nobody wants to live in such a situation and Buddhists from Bangla are easily flowing to Arakan with the help of local Buddhists and they are enjoying every rights.

Moe Gyaw Wrote:

04/09/2010

There is one similarity between the military government and the Bengalis; that is - deny all the disclosures over their wrongdoing as much as they can until any strong evidence such as a video clip or a photo surfaces.

Some unsuspecting foreigners seem to believe their story partly due to common hatred towards the military government. As a result, the dark side of those illegal immigrants are shrouded and they are seen as the most pitiful people on earth. What a joke!

Be aware that they are the same people with the same religion, the same culture and the same goal as the terrorists of September 11th.

Arakan Wrote:

04/09/2010

Hi Pyi Saunt, come back to Buthidaung and Maungdaw again if you are dare. You will see the meaning of Jihad from our Rohingya.

Moe Aung Wrote:

04/09/2010

The Muslim “Rohingya” of Burma

by Martin Smith

posted by
ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ORGANISATION
11 October 2006

http://www.rohingya.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=75&Itemid=33

Student Wrote:

03/09/2010

I was born and grew up in Buthidaung. Our Rakhine teachers use to release us from tuition class before sunset not because our teachers were afraid us (Rohingya) but because he/she knew if our class lasted after sunset we could be attacked by Rakhine any time. I still remember we need to pay 1000 kyats as bribe to a Rakhine youth (maung ning soe) from ward No.5 to play football at Buthidaung football ground. The Rakhine comprise less than 10% in Buthidaung metropolitan area, still we Rohingya never dared to be outside after nine pm. How could brother Pyi Saunt come to say they are in danger? Doesn't brother Pyi Saunt know that at least one Rohingya is being beaten every night by the Rakhine in Buthidaung? How many Rakhines are being attacked by Rohingya?

Kyaw Tin Wrote:

03/09/2010

Dear Editor, the author and other readers,
The author seems to be a racist and he does not know the real situation of both Rohingya and Rakhine. Both Rohingya and Rakhine suffered differently under the iron heel of ruling junta.

Of course there are many illegal immigrants in Maungdaw. The Rakhine population of Maungdaw has come from Bangladesh in the early seventies and they hold dual citizenship. For example, U Kyaw Maung, the Chairman of Rakhine State People's Council in 1980 was a Bengali Rakhine and he penetrated into the political sphere of Burma and he became a cadre for the BSPP. A Township Immigration Officer of Maungdaw Townhip was a Bengali Rakhine and the goverment revealed this and he was fired from his job. I can point out each and every Rakhine Bengali personally. The last migration of Rakhine from Bangladesh to Rakhine State was in 2003 as they were resettled near 3 mile and the village was named as Vesali. The illegal migrations continued through the porous border

Ko Ko Linn Wrote:

03/09/2010

Most Rakhine from Buthidaung and Maungdaw have a strong sentiments against Rohingya. Like Pyi Saunt, many other Rakhine intellectuals are the same. He said the historical background written by their people is the truth but they are unaware of what they did during 26 years of BSPP tenure.

The UN agencies are presently eyewitnesses for what is going on over there in the region.
Of course, what Pyi Saunt wrote is as undeniable as the restrictions and discrimination by SPDC against the Rohingya. We are well aware that many Rakhine also fled and asked for or got assistance from UN and others. In this way thousand of Rakhine have been settled into a third country because of SPDC violations against them.

khala Meah Wrote:

03/09/2010

I thought the ethnic Rakhine was a very civilized and politically advanced communty, but it was proven that they are very backward, rude and uncivilized. By posting such a nonsensical and illogical letter, they have also shown that they are extremely foolish racists.

mong ching pru Wrote:

03/09/2010

Irrawaddy is not neutral - but it is objective. The Rohingya issue or the Bengali Muslims of Maungdaw-Buthidaung issue should be considered in the history of the Partition - that of India and Pakistan in 1947. From then on, Pakistan as a Muslim country and Muslim sympathizer has been conducting secret missions in the South Asia. For some time in the 1960s and 1970s there was a demand for the creation of a Muslim Bangla comprised of the western Bengali majority districts of Burma, and the eastern states of North East India. With the birth of Bangladesh in 1971, it just vanished - but did it really? In the 1971 war of Bangladesh Liberation, the people in Arakan State, especially the Rakhine community, gave shelter to countless Bengali refugees - feeding them till they returned home safely after the Liberation. This should be written down in the history of Bangladesh - if that is to be objective. But the Rohingyas - for reasons best known to them - sided with the Pakistanis.

Am I wrong?

Maung Arkar Wrote:

03/09/2010

This is complete rubbish and these Rakhines cannot see the Rohingya faces and start writing things like that. These Rakhines are always rude towards Rohingyas and this is an attempt to disrupt things before the election. And, if something happens, the Rakhines will put the blames on Rohingyas.

Nyi Nyi Wrote:

03/09/2010

The Rakhine want to be kind and proud of Arakan history through hiding reality. Historically, the Rakhines have never been displaced by Rohingya or Arakan Muslim but Arakan Muslims were displaced when Rakhines or Burmans came into power in 1784 under King Bodaw, 1942 by U Kyaw Khine, in the bloodshed in 1967 in Kyauktaw and others campaigns of repression like Nagamin-1978, Pyitaya-1992 and etc...

Does it matter if they are Bangali or Rohingya?
Lack of recognition is that
1)when Burman occupied Arakan in 1406, Rakhine king Min-Saw-Mon sought refuge for 24 years in Bangaladesh and restored Mrauk U dynasty under Muslim titles.
2) Bodaw paya invasion in 1784 made both Rakhines and Rohingyas flee the country and they reentered when British law was installed.
3) Rakhine U Kyaw Khine's xenophobia in 1942 expelled Rohingyas again and they were able to reenter by Gen.Aung Sann in 1945.

We in the Rohingya community are collecting a list of Rohingya displacements and the ethnic cleansing under recent military rule will be proven.

Abumahiya Wrote:

03/09/2010

The theme of the letter is the old poison of mr. Khing maung in a new bottle, though the style of bottling is different.

shwemyanmar Wrote:

03/09/2010

What a pitiful hyena complaining about already dead deer! Very funny!!

C K Lay Wrote:

03/09/2010

Finally, Irrawaddy found tiny (tiny) gut to publish a story from two sides. Still they tried to taint the story theme by posting a picture of a Rohingya boy on top of the story. How cunning!
Or does The Irrawaddy have a picture of a poor since they only collect Rohingya material? Let me know if you need some. I have tons.

Maung Wrote:

03/09/2010

I lived in Maungdaw and I am Rohingya. I know the truth. The article would be right if it were the other way round.

Thein Aung Wrote:

03/09/2010

This article is correct. Native rakhine will nearly loose their land after election. Rakhine people have maintained Arakan for centuries but current situation is really bad. Muslim organizations are so strong and they can finance Muslims in Arakan, even in world trade center in New Yorr, US.

And the Burmese central gov is really corrupted too. They don't care if they sacrafice Rakhine to get vote from Muslims. Burning, torturing, beheading will be coming soon as in other muslim's countries.

The UN is as usual as stupid. If Rohingya is hot topic for them, they will follow it.

Israel and US must support minority Rakhine people.

Dewar Wrote:

03/09/2010

My own experience: in August 2009, a French NGO based in Yangon circulated an ad for an interpreter to work for a project in northern Arakan, saying that applicants must be fluent in English and Arakanese. Having fluency in both English, which I have been using for more 10 years for work, oral and writen, and Arakanese, my mother tongue, I applied for the job, submiting my CV as well as testimonials from my international friends. I exchanged a few letters with the NGO's headquarters in Paris and got an appointment for a personal interview by their officer, who marveled at my command of English and agreed to hire me for the project. But before we concluded the interview, the officer went upstairs and chatted with some Bangali men for a while, came down and asked me again if I spoke Rohingya. I said no and asked him if he knew what Rohingya is. He just bluntly said no idea. I continued to tell him that the ad did not metion any Rohingya language knowledge but Arakanese! Stupid Agencies!!

Moe Aung Wrote:

03/09/2010

History repeating itself and a sense of déjà vu for the Rakhine.

U Nu in the run up to the 1960 elections came up with the term ethnic 'Burmese' Rohingya for their votes. Today's USDP too wants their votes, and the regime happily turns its stance of persecution and exclusion on its head. Political expedience rules the day once again, and damn the consequences.

Htwe Nu Wrote:

02/09/2010

I just would like to ask you, the editor of The Irrawaddy, whether you know the real history of the Rohingya and Rakhine? Do you know the history of Arakan? Do you know how the world population became distributed?

Do you know that neither rohingya nor rakhine came out of the Arakan's soil? I would like to kindly suggest that you, as editor, better learn these things before publishing this kind of racist article in this civilized community that knows what human rights are.

thihajarmal Wrote:

02/09/2010

Dear Author of this Article,
You should know that international agencies and other ethnic groups from Burma are not blindfolded to history. They know the true history of Arakan, not the one like you turned upside down.

In truth, Arakan belongs to both Rakhine and Rohingya. You claim that there was no such name as Rohingya in Burma. So how come Rohingya have a Radio news programme until 1976? I simply request you just look back at history in detail before writing an article like this. Don't lower youself and the news website by writing such nonsense. We all are brothers and sisters within Arakan State regardless of race and religion.

Nurul Islam(a) Kyaw Swe Wrote:

02/09/2010

I must say with grief that Mr.Pyi Saunt is quite wrong. He wrote that The Rakhine are vulnerable in Maung Daw, Buthi Daung and Rathedaung.But the reality is that The rohingya Muslims are 100% vulnerable because they are passing their life in Arakan under severe restrictions of Junta. But Junta imposed no restriction on the Rakhine due to religious and racial discrimination. Historically Arakan is the native land of Rohingya Muslims.They never wanted Arakan an independent state of Rohingyas. Rather they are living by maintaining peaceful co-existence with the Rakhine brothers. In return The Rakhine with the help of the Junta are trying to eliminate Rohingyas from their ancestral land, Arakan. The Rohingyas are crying only for retrieving their fundemental rights.This is the reality.

Nurul

U Maung Lay Wrote:

02/09/2010

I did have a respect for Irrawaddy for very neutral in their previous reports on Rohingya issues. But my respect has gone now. How a community without have a single human right can attack other community who have all their rights with them. Is it logical?. Go and see the differences of monasteries and Mosques there. Only fools will believe the articles above. UN and other agencies help Rohingyas because they know the truth.